Energy Department Awards $40 Million for Research to Support Waste Cleanup at DOE Nuclear Sites

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz today announced up to $40 million in awards for four new Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) to accelerate the scientific breakthroughs needed to support the Department of Energy (DOE)’s environmental management and nuclear cleanup mission. (press release)

Highlights

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A metallic line atop a medium biased at the edge of chaos can provide effective negative resistance for time-varying signals, outputting a larger signal compared to its input. The energy for amplification comes from the static bias applied to the medium.

The “Edge of Chaos” Amplifies Signals Without Transistors

Emulating the edge of chaos of axons enables a metal wire to overcome its resistance without cooling, thereby amplifying signals flowing inside of it.

Infrared laser light (red beam) illuminates the surface of ZrSiSe and mixes with electron oscillations enabled by an atomic force microscope (silver cone), propagating light as ray-like structures that guide the light through the interior (blue zig-zag).

What If Metals Could Conduct Light?

In the unusual world of quantum materials, metals can guide light in their interiors instead of merely reflecting it.